Florida counts on truckers to police themselves

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1/30/2002

The Florida
Department of Transportation is relying on truckdrivers to monitor
themselves for hours-of-service limits. An officer shortage has
restricted the time spent patrolling the state's roads to track
down violators.

Currently,
Florida employs 200 officers for enforcement, up 50 in the past
two years, but they still lack sufficient numbers to monitor the
entire state. The department's enforcement unit must concentrate
on the largest urban areas for enforcement.

"There's
no way for us to keep track of everybody," said Lt. Kenny
Morris of the department's enforcement unit. He says the state
relies on truckers to be responsible for themselves. "It's
kind of self-governing a little bit there."

>From
1999 to 2000, the truck-related fatalities dropped statewide,
according to the state Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Department.
Investigations into the crashes determined that fatigue or sleep
was a factor in one crash during the two-year span.